Islamic Ideology

S. Arshad, New Age Islam

S. Arshad, New Age Islam

The phrase “Ma Malakat Aymanukum” is not used to mean only male or female slaves but all the poor and needy persons, male or female, dependent on the wealthy and well to do people. This verse also hints at the system of distribution of Zakat because the purpose of Zakat is to distribute a portion of the income or wealth of a well to do person to needy people around him. Thus all the needy people around a well to do person are ‘Ma Malakat Aymanuhum” according to this verse. The Quran envisages a society where the wealthy will always take care of the needy people around them and will strive to reduce poverty in his area by parting with a portion of their wealth with the poor and the needy. Therefore, all the needy and the destitute under a wealthy person’s purview are his “right hand possession” or “Ma Malakat Aymanuhum” or dependents in terms of financial position and it is his religious duty to take care of them. So, even a beggar, an orphan or a destitute person comes under the phrase ‘Ma Malakat Aymanukum’....

S. Arshad, New Age Islam

S. Arshad, New Age Islam

The Quran enjoins on man to co-exist in peace and respect each other’s faith. The Quran says that God has made the universe full of variety and the mark of His creativity is manifest everywhere. The heavens, the earth, the oceans and the flora and fauna are marked with variety and difference in shape and colour. The way of living and eating habits of people is also different. Therefore, the religions and the way of thinking of different peoples also differ. This is according to the scheme of things of God. He says that if he had willed, all the people of the world would have believed in one religion. But through difference in faith and way of worship of God, he wants to test man’s faith and wants to see how man tries to co-exist in peace with others despite difference in way of thinking....

Dr Muhammad Maroof Shah

“Elements of Islamic laws and codes have become inconsistent not just with the contemporary era, but also with the very principles and values of Islam that such laws and codes are supposed to uphold.” From triple Talaq to rulings on hijab and banks and to interfaith marriages to choosing diverse careers we have a range of opinions to debate and choose from without being guilty of defying Islam or what Asad calls “true Shariah.” What is wrong with legalism may be understood by taking a look at its history – Chinese, Judaic, Christian and other traditions that fought war against it. ...

Jan-e-Alam Khaki

Jan-e-Alam Khaki

This could be one more reason why Iqbal says, “free (Aazad Kar) the intellect (Khirad) from bondage (Ghulami) and make the young teachers of the old”. Could he mean that the new ideas be given space to enrich our societies through multiple ways of looking at the symbols, metaphors and allusions used in the sacred texts and complex literature to enlighten our paths in a global village?...

Adis Duderija

Adis Duderija

One aspect of this struggle for religious legitimacy among the post-righteous generations of Muslims (as-Salaf as-Salih), chronologically speaking was by linking one's theological, political or legal views to that of the As-Salaf As-Salih. This would, in turn, imbue these competing factions with the sense of normativity, credibility and authority. As a corollary, the concept of Salafism - or what I also term a Salafi worldview - can be conceptualized in terms of the idea of the "emulation-worthiness" of the first century religious and political authorities who were perceived as having remained faithful to the teachings of the Qur'an and the example of the Prophet in relation to 'Aqidah (beliefs), Manhaj (methodology) and 'Ibadah (worship) in contrast to those who are deemed( from a perspective of a particular group of Muslims) to have deviated.....

Hasan Aftab Saeed

Hasan Aftab Saeed

God is not a theorem that can be proved by starting from more basic assumptions. Any ‘logical’ argument that proposes to do so ends up proving the opposite, in the process undoing itself. That’s because He is the Absolute (the most Basic), which means he depends on nothing while everything else depends on Him (112:2). Over the centuries, philosophers have repeatedly demonstrated the errors in the ontological, cosmological, and the teleological arguments that claim to ‘prove’ the ‘existence’ of God....

Khalid Baig

So it is the job of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), to explain the Qur’an. And it is the job of the believers to obey him.”He who obeys the Messenger obeys Allah indeed” (Nisa 4:80). And even more emphatically it says: “And obey Allah and obey His Messenger.”(Al-Taghabun 64:12). It is to be noted that here the Qur’an did not say “Obey Allah and His Messenger.” By using the command, “obey” independently the fact has been firmly established that the status of an order given by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is the same as that given by Allah....

Dr Muhammad Maroof Shah

Beyond the period of the Companions the history of Islam doesn’t furnish a single instance of a real Ijma, either in the sense of an agreement among all Muslim scholars or even among those of a particular period.’’ From 3rd or 4thcentury A.H the Law was conceived as a "combination of the Nass ordinances plus a legislation arrived at through deduction. Instead of the original Two sources or roots (Usul) of the Law – the Quran and the Sunnah, the Muslims were presented with four roots: the Quran, Sunnah, Ijma and Qiyas; and only a small minority of scholars continued to oppose this arbitrary addition.’’....

Tahir Kamran

Tahir Kamran

Until the early modern period of Muslim intellectual history of South Asia, Muslim rule was in existence; therefore question like the definition of a Muslim never arose. The religious culture revolved around the empire and Dargah (Sufi Shrine), the influence of which had been articulated in the social plurality. Both of these institutions allowed certain space for the co-existence of multiple socio-cultural identities. ...

Tariq A. Al-Maeena

Tariq A. Al-Maeena

To summarize some of the ridiculous Fatwas of the past supposedly based on the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) would take many pages, but here are a few examples. In May 2007, a fatwa was issued by an Islamic cleric in Egypt, which said that a female worker should breastfeed a male colleague to establish a maternal bond between them, in order to overcome the Islamic law against the illegal private seclusion of men and women. The cleric based his fatwa on a flawed interpretation of a Hadith by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).....

Dr Muhammad Maroof Shah

He accepts traditionally widely understood and properly delimited meaning of wisdom and sage for Hikmah and Hakeem and thus requires us to take seriously illumined philosophies across cultures. He notes that the method of knowledge from the Unseen (Ghayeb) include Wahi, Tehdees, Tafheem, Zoaq, Marifat, Ilmi Ludni, Kashf etc. He reminds us of a Prophetic tradition stating that “Anyone who spares 40 days only for God springs of Hikmah will be on his tongue.”....

Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam

Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam

Who are these Kafaru who are the worst of creatures? Irrespective of how they have translated the verses, every commentator has treated all of the People of the Book and all of the Mushrikin as Kafir and the worst of creatures. In their translations, some of them vary, and consider only some among the People of the Book among the Kafaru but almost all of them consider all the Mushrikin as among the Kafaru. The expression “The Kafaru among the People of the Book and among the Mushrikin” is interpreted by these Mufassirin as merely identifying the Kafaru from different faiths. By implication, for them all non-Muslims are Kafir and these verses merely exclude Kafir from other faiths such as the Buddhists, the Zoroastrians, etc....

Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam

Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam

The first stage is Shariat where a believer studies the Quran and Sunnah and if he takes the right message out of his study, he can then be described as one travelling on the path known as Tariqat. Similarly Tariqat takes the Salik (traveller on the path of Sufism) to the Haqiqat and then to the fourth that is Marifat (gnosis). When a believer attains perfection in all these four stages, it is said he has become a Sufi or Wali (saint) and thereby acquiring the blessing of Allah Almighty.

It is intelligible now that the relation between Shariat and Tariqat is as deeper as between the body and the spirit. The believers attain perfection by comprehending both Shariat and Haqiqat and act according to them. This is the essential education to which the Sufi saints and Friends of Allah [Auliya] guide.

Qasim A. Moini

Qasim A. Moini

Emulation doesn’t mean literally and ritualistically adopting the ways of the seventh century; rather it means living as per the requirements of the age, but with a firm moral anchor that can help one differentiate between right and wrong. Beyond words, beyond loud protestations of faith and beyond rhetoric, it is strength of character that is needed to build society and the self. And as the verses from the Quran have illustrated here, the guiding light of the spirit is the sacred personality of the Holy Prophet. ...

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Thus the birth of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was the most significant and the most remarkable event in human history. Had there been room in Islamic teachings for the celebration of birthdays or anniversaries, the birthday of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) would have undoubtedly deserved it more than the birthday of any other person. But that is against the nature of Islamic teachings. That is why, unlike Judaism, Christianity, and Hinduism, there are very few festivals in Islam, which provides for only two Eids (Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Azha) during the whole year....

Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam

Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam

Succinctly defining ‘gnosis, the Sufi master Abul Qasim al-Qushayri said, “As per the Islamic scholars (Ulema), ‘gnosis’ (Ma’rifa) means knowledge (‘Ilm). Hence all knowledge is gnosis and all gnosis is knowledge. Every person who is cognizant of Allah (‘Arif) is a knower (‘Alim). However, according to the Sufi Masters, ‘Ma’rifa is the attribute of the person who is cognizant of Allah Almighty, His names and attributes. It is he who then puts his trust in Allah Almighty in his everyday behaviour and gets rid of his bad morals and transgressions. He then proceeds to reside at the door [of Allah’s mercy] with his heart striving constantly for the nearness of Allah, whereby he becomes beloved of Allah Almighty and trusts Him in everything he experiences in his entire life....

Jafar Reynolds

In the Islamic month of Rabi’ al-Awwal and just one week before the Milad-un-Nabawi (celebration of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday), a deadly terrorist attack targeting a North Sinai mosque during Friday prayers has resulted in the death of more than 300 innocent worshippers, horrifying Egyptians and people throughout the world – something anathema to the very essence of Islam. While those who have carried out this attack and others like it – whether on mosques, churches or security forces – claim to do so in the name of Islam, it is among the most sacred of Islam’s tenants that they in fact transgress.....

Megan Specia

Megan Specia

Sufism has shaped literature and art for centuries, and is associated with many of the most resonant pieces of Islam’s “golden age,” lasting from roughly the eighth through 13th centuries, including the poetry of Rumi. While some Muslims view Sufis as quirky, even eccentric, some fundamentalists and extremists see Sufism as a threat and its adherents as heretics or apostates....

Dr Muhammad Maroof Shah

For the Greatest Master of Islamic Tradition all love is essentially holy or divine because it is really (though many are not conscious of this) directed towards God who alone is and who is the only Beloved smiling in every form. He is for progressive Platonisation of love; he is for moving from phenomena to the One which manifests yet hides in them....

Dr Imadaldin Al-Jubouri

The Sharia, then, endorses rational consideration of everything in existence, deducing what was unknown from what is known. In other words, our consideration of reality should proceed by means of what the logicians call rational syllogisms. Of the various types of syllogism, the Sharia would clearly advocate the evidential syllogism. This should be considered the most productive type because it starts from a premise certain in itself (evidence) and thus leads to conclusions that cannot be untrue….

Dr Imadaldin Al-Jubouri

In Basra, Wasil ibn Ata (699-749) founded a ‘rationalist’ school to represent Mutazilite thought and to teach Muslims new methods of thinking. He asserted that the intellect is a way to faith, to know God, a way to distinguish between good and evil, and the only criterion to understand the Sharia (Islamic law). Hence, Mutazilites said that “intellect is before quotation,” and they praised the intellect considerably. They contended with other Muslim schools, particularly the Hashawaites and Dhahirites, who believed that the intellect had no role in the Sharia. Truly, it was hard work for Mutazilite thinkers to free Muslim minds from the shackles of dogma and formal teaching methods....

Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam

Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam

Professor Wasey’s key message was that the Muslims
believe in the Quran but do not follow it – “Quran Ko To Maante Hain, Lekin
Quran Ki Nahin Sunte” and the fact that while the Prophet formed an
Ummat-e-Wahida with people of all faiths in a common cause, the Muslims of
later times failed to do so. Professor Pant said that the Hindus remember their
history only from the days of partition and have forgotten earlier history. He
said that Islamic influence has permeated all aspects of the life of Hindus
from their food and the Halwa which has become the standard offering to the
deity and distributed as “Prasad”, the dress, the language, the architecture,
the classical music in which many of the forms are kept alive by the Muslim
artists, the arts, poetry and the culture….

Mubashir Akram

Mubashir Akram

The Deobandi version of Islam
in Pakistan is hardly what it started out to be in 1867 in India as a
revivalist movement. The seven giants of the Islamic Jurisprudence of that time
who established Dar-al Uloom Deoband included names like Rashid Ahmed Gangohi,
Zulfiqar Ali, Shah Rafiuddin, Muhammad Yaqub and Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi. This
religious seminary was once the second largest after Egypt’s Jamia Al-Azhar,
and took on the tasks of spreading education, awareness and political
reformation among the Muslims. This school, and school of thought gave birth to
Jamiat-e-Ulmae Hind (JUH) in 1919.

Ammar Anwer

Ammar Anwer

Both Maulana Azad and Maulana Husain Ahmed Madani presented strong
theological arguments to support the modern concept of nation-states. The idea
that all Muslims are like one nation has brought Muslims nothing but
destruction. It is also very impractical. I strongly believe that it is time
that Muslims from all around the world should stop believing in this unfeasible
concept and protect and safeguard the interests of their own respective states.

Maryam Miller

Current Western conceptions of soulmates popularise the Yin and Yang of
Taoism or ancient Chinese Philosophy Shiva and Parvati of Hinduism’s mention
Ardhanarishvara, a “represent[ation of] a synthesis of masculine and feminine
energies of the universe,“[5] and Aristotle’s saying “Love is composed of a
single soul inhabiting two bodies” [6] are also prominent modern depictions of
soulmates. The Quran and Prophetic Tradition, however, is full of context for
soulmates by the mere meaning of the term Zawj
(Quran 4:1, 6:98, 7:189, 39:6)....